It's The End, Sweetheart
by Ellana-san
Summary: The world didn't end with a bang or a whimper. The world didn't end when zombies came crashing down the back door. The world didn't end at all. Haymitch was always surprised by that. / set in the same universe as "it's the apocalypse sweetheart" Hayffie summer week day 6: here comes the sun


_Day 7 is: Heres comes the Sun. Which is supposed to be an ending of sort so… Do you remember one of my earliest stories? The zombies one? Born when TWD was still a good show and I was obsessed with it? Yeah, well… People had wanted an epilogue for so long, here it is. _

_I think you can follow without having read the original story so enjoy!_

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_**It's The End, Sweetheart**_

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The world didn't end with a bang or a whimper.

The world didn't end when zombies came crashing down the back door.

The world didn't end at all.

Haymitch was always surprised by that.

The first thing he did when entered the kitchen was to make himself a cup of coffee, making a mental note to check the generator had enough fuel later today because even though it was less dangerous than it used to be, he didn't like the idea of the house losing electricity. He didn't mind living rough. Hell, they had been living rough for _years _before they finally settled down… But Effie was still every bit the spoiled princess, down to her golden nail polish, and she liked her comfort.

Well… She wasn't _entirely _the same spoiled princess he almost ran over with his car five years earlier. She wasn't that spoiled even then. He just liked to tease her.

He rubbed his face and checked the window over the sink before wandering outside. The sky was still dark, barely pinkish at the edges, but the geese still greeted him with honking from their pen. He surveyed the fields that stretched from the foot of his house right up to where the fence separated their house from the kids'. A shadow moved toward the woods and he squinted, his hand automatically falling at his waist where he didn't keep his gun anymore.

The guns and the knives were in easy reach and he insisted everyone was armed when they wandered outside but they were safe enough inside that they didn't cling to their weapons anymore.

The shadow, as it turned out, was carrying a bow and after marking an alarmed pause at seeing him, waved at him.

He waved back at the girl and relaxed, leaning against the porch's railing to watch his small kingdom. Taking care of the farm was exhausting but it meant they were mostly self-sufficient. Katniss hunted for meat, Effie took care of the vegetable garden and of bartering away their surplus of good at the small market in the makeshift town that had grown together a year earlier, Jo and Peeta took care of the fields and he took care of their animals.

They didn't have many. Three geese, a lone malnourished cow, a horse and a goat that Effie had nicknamed _Lady_ and whose cheese wasn't that good.

It wasn't paradise.

But it was better than they thought they would get when they had all been on the run from zombies.

Against all odds, humanity survived.

Haymitch knew there must have been more small communities like theirs all over the country, people that had come together and stayed together, forming enclaves where life could go back to a pale shade of what it used to be. There were high fences and a shadow of government and fewer zombies and mutts than there used to be…

In a generation or two, the world might even forget what the apocalypse was like.

The horizon line was lightening when the door opened behind him and arms were wrapped around his waist.

"Woke you?" he asked, his voice rough like always in the morning.

She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder blade. "It's alright, I couldn't sleep."

"Yeah? What's up, Miss America?" he teased.

He knew what was keeping her up, of course. _Nightmares_. They both had them. Five years of close brushes with death would do that to anyone. Never mind the friends they had lost on the road.

"_Runner up_ for Miss America, as you well know." she mumbled grumpily.

It beat calling her Miss Patriot.

"You'll always be a clown to me." he replied with fondness. She rubbed her cheek against the back of his shirt, one of her hand drifting south, and while he was distracted, also snatched the mug of coffee from his hand. He couldn't help a smirk because he wasn't _that _taken aback by her dirty tactics. "Minx."

She winked at him and took a sip of coffee, wrinkling her nose at the taste because he doctored it sweet when she liked it as black and bitter as possible. Black and bitter coffee was almost impossible to find nowadays anyway. Mostly, the best you could hope for was watered down powder.

"Are you going on a perimeter patrol?" she asked.

"Guess so." He shrugged. It was a habit he had trouble breaking out of even if the fences surrounding the area made it as safe as it was ever going to get with the occasional zombie still roaming in the wild. Walking around the farm was the only way to trick his anxiety into abating. And she knew him well enough to know that for him to be up so early, he must have felt nervous. "Might swing by Jo's. She's always up for an early walk."

The sky was turning a golden pink and they both turned to enjoy the view. She snuggled against his side and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, tugging her close to keep her warm. He took the mug back when she handed it and, for a while, they just watched the sunrise and shared a mug of very bad coffee.

And like always, Haymitch felt grateful to be allowed that much. Who knew sharing moments was just as thrilling when it wasn't stolen on the side of a road, cramped in the front seat of a truck?

He never took that sort of things for granted, not after everything they went through, not after the death and the pain and the fear…

He pressed a kiss against her head. "You should get your two million insured ass back to bed, princess. It's early yet."

"Join me when you come back." she hummed, briefly nuzzling his neck.

He couldn't resist the light whack on her ass when she left his side to go back inside. It earned him a mild glare and a pout that looked more amused than stern.

Haymitch stretched his arms over his head and smirked at the rising sun.

It was a sweet ride, this apocalypse. Not always calm, not always smooth… But he was enjoying it nonetheless.

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_And it's a wrap for the hayffie summer week! I hope you enjoyed my entries! Business will be back as usual next week for prompts and stuff. I've been working on a few one shots on the side following a trope prompt list but I will tell you more about that on tumblr ;)_

_Did you like this ending? Was it all you wanted for the apocalypse team? Let me know!_


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